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John Payne

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The artist formerly known as Smog, Bill Callahan used to churn out lo-fi four-track cassettes mostly about sitting alone in his room, mumbling in a distracted croak over amp noise and loops, sour guitars, and freeform song structures—great, ...

Offend Maggie is the name of Deerhoof's new album on Kill Rock Stars. It is, like the group itself, totally indefinable. It can make you cry, for some reason, as it scratches your skull. It's so earnest, but it's so smart too. And with it, you get...

Sonic Youth's recent Rather Ripped pulls the maturing band toward a more mellifluous path that doesn't reject their famously splintered tonality but seems a bit more ear-friendly as it addresses a subtler emotional terrain. With the departure of m...